The present invention is related to commercial or residential electrical wiring and component installation, and pertains more particularly to a template system for locating and cutting gang openings for installing stud-mounted xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d electrical gang boxes. The invention is further directed to a template system for easily locating and cutting other openings of various sizes in a wall, ceiling or other surface.
Wiring and other components for electrical, networking or other such systems in a residential or commercial structure is installed utilizing either xe2x80x9cnew workxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d installation techniques. The term xe2x80x9cnew workxe2x80x9d, such as when used with reference to installing wiring and components in new home construction, refers to installation of the wiring and components wherein the wiring and components are routed through and installed within the framing of the structure prior to installation of the drywall wall/ceiling covering. The term xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d refers to the installation of additional wiring or components to existing wiring or components, or to existing wiring or components in an existing structure. A common xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d example is the installation of an electrical gang box for a new electrical outlet along an existing wiring branch.
It is commonly required that in xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d installation and repair, at least a portion of the wall covering, typically being drywall, be removed to allow access to, or installation of the wiring or components. Particularly, for installation of electrical gang boxes for installing a new electrical outlet, a rectangular-shaped opening is generally required to be cut from the drywall, and the opening must be level both horizontally and perpendicularly to a horizontal line. It is also desired in such xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d gang box installation that the location of the new opening is in the desired position relative to a floor, wall or ceiling in the room were the new outlet is installed.
Typical xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d gang box installation involves locating, scribing and cutting the opening from the existing drywall covering, and installing an xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d gang box which attaches directly to the drywall, typically utilizing a screw-mounted tab which is rotated to secure behind drywall and a screw accessible from the front of the gang box. A variety of other such means for securing a gang box to drywall have been introduced in the art as well.
The majority of xe2x80x9cnew workxe2x80x9d gang boxes installed in the framing of the structure, for instance, in new home construction, are firmly secured to a framing member of the structure, usually a vertical wall stud, prior to the installation of drywall. It is well-known in the art that, for obvious reasons of stability, rigidity and safety, it is preferable that the gang box be mounted to a stud or other secure member in the framing of the wall boxes, hence such installation in new home construction. In such an application the gang box, and thereby the electrical outlet secured to the gang box, is less prone to jarring or damage caused by contact between cord ends plugged into the outlet and other objects, such as furniture for example, or drywall damage due to over-tightening of the mounting screws. Stability is further compromised in a drywall-mounted gang box application when the drywall, for whenever reason be it moisture damage, or deterioration over time, becomes softer and less able to support and secure the gang box. A particular advantage in such stud-mount application is thereby gained over xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d drywall-mounted gang boxes, which are typically made of plastic or other non-metal material, and are much more prone to damage compared to metal stud-mounted gang boxes.
For xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d installation of a new outlet it is therefore preferable that the new outlet be located such that the gang box to which the new outlet is attached is securely fastened to a stud or other framing member within a wall or ceiling. The opening for the new outlet must therefore be not only square, level and located a specific distance from the floor or wall, but must also be located such that one vertical side of the opening is exactly aligned with, and adjacent to, a side surface of a vertical framing stud, for instance, for the purpose of mounting the gang box to the side of the vertical stud. If such a gang box opening is not perfectly located and aligned, upon securing the gang box to the stud, damage to the drywall may occur due to misalignment between the gang box and the opening, and may also adversely affect the alignment and attachment of the wall plate covering the outlet. Presently, such xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d installation of stud-mounted electrical gang boxes is therefore most often, and best carried out by, those trained in the skill of the art.
Various xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d methods and apparatus have been developed for locating, scribing and cutting openings in drywall for installation of stud-mounted gang boxes, utilizing such as electronic stud finders, contractor""s levels equipped with bubble levelers, and hand-held templates for marking or scribing the wall with an outline of the desired opening. Many xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d gang boxes are supplied with paper templates for marking the opening prior to cutting.
Much improvement, however, is still needed in the art to enable one with ordinary skill to accurately locate and cut an opening in drywall for a stud-mounted gang box installation. Present techniques require many separate steps and devices to accurately scribe and cut such an opening. The person of ordinary skill performing the installation must first locate the stud behind the drywall using such as an electronic stud finder, manually mark on the drywall the location of the edge of a vertical stud, and then utilize several other devices and means for locating, scribing and cutting the gang box opening such that it is square and level and closely aligned with the vertical framing stud to which it will be mounted.
Such methods for locating and scribing the opening, utilizing an electronic stud finder and carpenter""s level or hand-held template, for instance, easily lend themselves to errors in scribing or cutting the opening, because of the manual nature of the actions. Great care must be taken to accurately mark perfectly level horizontal and vertical lines for the new opening. When utilizing a hand-held paper gang box opening template, accurate marking around the periphery of the paper template is often difficult and prone to error, and hand-held leveling templates utilizing such as spiral cutting tools, or roto-zip tools as they are often referred to as, are often difficult to manually hold stationary to drywall while cutting the opening with the cutting tool around the periphery of the template. When utilizing a hand-held drywall saw for cutting a scribed opening, great care must also be taken to avoid cutting into electrical or other wires or cables which may be located behind the cutting line, and unknown to the person performing the cut.
An inherent functional limitation in hand-held gang box opening templates is that the templates are typically available in sizes applicable to either a single-gang box opening, or a dual-gang opening, or in some instances, both. Such a hand-held template provides no advantage, however, to one wishing to easily cut a square and level opening of a size different from what is required for a standard single or dual gang box, such as for a junction box for wiring of a local area network (LAN), for instance. Slight variances in the dimensions of xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d gang boxes may require openings having dimensions slightly different from standard, posing further problems to the user of a conventional hand-held gang box opening template.
What is clearly needed is an xe2x80x9cold workxe2x80x9d template system for accurately locating and cutting an opening in drywall or other such wall covering, wherein the user of average skill may accurately locate the position of the cut relative to a framing member within a wall, for example, and precisely cut a square and level opening of predetermined size from the drywall, the opening oriented such that it is properly positioned relative to the edge of the wall stud or framing member for subsequent mounting of a desired box. Such a template system should accurately pinpoint the location of the gang box mounting surface of a stud or framing member behind drywall, indicating to the user such alignment, enabling the user to then secure the template in the exact level position relative to the edge of the stud or framing member, and to accurately cut the desired opening along an outline of a predetermined size provided by the template. By utilizing such a template system in preferred and alternative embodiments the user is enabled to adjust the template horizontally and vertically so as to accurately cut square and level openings of various predetermined sizes, accurately positioned relative to a framing stud, floor, wall or ceiling, for example, or to accurately cut square and level openings in drywall, the openings having dimensions much larger, and of different shapes than are required for gang box installation. The template system of the present invention enables the user of average skill to repeatedly perform such precision cuts eliminating the need for several separate steps and devices for locating, measuring, scribing and cutting the opening, such as is required in conventional art. The system should also be inexpensive to manufacture utilizing many conventionally known methods and apparatus for leveling, stud location, distance measurement, opening measurement, and so on, and also be lightweight and easily handled, positioned or otherwise manipulated by a single user, allowing the user to easily reposition the template system in various orientations or positions for repeated cuts, while maintaining the template system level or perpendicular to a horizontally or vertically plumb line. Embodiments of such a new and novel template system are herein provided as described and illustrated below in enabling detail.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a template system for guiding drywall cutouts is provided, comprising at least one control box incorporating a stud-locator, land a system of interconnecting extensions attached to the control box, the extensions forming a predetermined geometrical shape. The template system is characterized in that, with the template system positioned against a drywall, individual edges of the interconnecting extensions serve as guides for a cutting tool to cut out a portion of the drywall in the predetermined geometrical shape formed by the interconnecting extensions.
In some preferred embodiments the predetermined geometrical shape is rectangular. Also in some embodiments the stud-finder incorporates a radar subsystem to locate a stud. In some embodiments individual ones of the interconnecting extensions are extensible to establish different lengths, such that the overall size of the predetermined geometrical shape may be adjusted. There may be lock/unlock mechanisms to fix lengths of extensions after adjustment.
In some embodiments the at least one control box further incorporates sensors to determine the dimensions of the predetermined geometrical shape, and an alert mechanism to inform a user of different dimensions. Also in some embodiments the at least one control box further comprises a memory system for a user to set one or more dimensions, and the alert mechanism alerts the user when adjustment of the dimensions of the extensions equals the set dimension or dimensions. The alert mechanism may be one or both of an audio alert or a light. In some cases the template system control box comprises a display, and displays dimensions of the predetermined geometrical shape.
In some preferred embodiments there are control boxes situated on opposite sides of the geometrical shape formed by the interconnecting extensions, each one of the control boxes comprising a stud finder. In some other embodiments there are four control boxes, each having a stud finder, and a system of interconnecting extensions, each extension pivotally attached at opposite ends of the extension to two of the four control boxes. The extensions may be attachable to and detachable from the control boxes.
In some cases the at least one control box comprises at least one sensor for determining distance from a wall or floor, and an alert system for informing a user at a predetermined distance. The at least one control box may further comprise a memory system for a user to set one or more distances, and wherein the alert mechanism alerts the user when the distance from the wall or floor equals a set distance. There also may be a level indicator system for indicating to a user when one or more extensions of the interconnecting extensions are level or plumb. The level indicator system may incorporate a magnetometer system. In addition there may be a mounting system for temporarily mounting the template system to a drywall.
In another aspect of the invention a method for making a cutout in a drywall is provided, comprising the steps of (a) placing a template system against the drywall, the template system having at least one control box incorporating a stud-finder and a system of interconnecting extensions attached to the control box, the extensions forming a predetermined geometrical shape; (b) moving the template system until positioned to a stud according to the stud finder; and (c) using individual edges of the interconnecting extensions as guides for a cutting tool to cut out a portion of the drywall in the size and predetermined geometrical shape. In some preferred embodiments the predetermined geometrical shape is rectangular.
In some embodiments of the stud-finder incorporates a radar subsystem to locate a stud. Further, individual ones of the interconnecting extensions may be extensible to establish different lengths, such that the overall size of the predetermined geometrical shape may be adjusted, and the method further comprises a step for adjusting the lengths. There may also be lock/unlock mechanisms to fix lengths of extensions after adjustment, and the method may further comprise a step for using the lock/unlock mechanisms in the adjustment.
In some cases the control box further incorporates sensors to determine the dimensions of the predetermined geometrical shape, and an alert mechanism to inform a user of different dimensions. There may be a memory system for a user to set one or more dimensions, and the alert mechanism may then alert the user when adjustment of the dimensions of the extensions equals the set dimension or dimensions. The alert mechanism may be one or both of an audio alert or a light.
In some embodiments control box comprises a display, and displays dimensions of the predetermined geometrical shape. Further, there may be two control boxes situated on opposite sides of the geometrical shape formed by the interconnecting extensions, each one of the control boxes comprising a stud finder.
In some embodiments of the method there are four control boxes, each having a stud finder, and a system of interconnecting extensions, each extension pivotally attached at opposite ends of the extension to two of the four control boxes. The extensions in these embodiments may be attachable to and detachable from the control boxes. There may further be at least one sensor for determining distance from a wall or floor, and an alert system for informing a user at a predetermined distance. There may be a memory system for a user to set one or more distances, wherein the alert mechanism alerts the user when the distance from the wall or floor equals a set distance.
In some embodiment of the method a level indicator system for indicating to a user when one or more extensions of the interconnecting extensions are level or plumb is provided and used for setting the template level and plumb. The level indicator system may incorporate a magnetometer system. There may also be a mounting system for temporarily mounting the template system to a drywall.
In embodiments of the present invention taught in enabling detail below, for the first time a template system is provided that very quickly and efficiently locates cutouts in drywall, and guides a cutting tool in making the cutouts.